In the digital age, where the growing accessibility of mobile technology is enabling businesses to become more flexible in their approach to the ‘working day’, a growing number of businesses are choosing to move away from the conventional full-time, nine-to-five, five-days-a-week standard.
Instead, they are choosing to implement Modern Working Practices (MWP). This flexible approach to working refers to anything that falls outside of the standard nine-to-five week and gives employees the freedom to work outside of traditional office environments and with flexible working hours.
According to research from Chwarae Teg, small Welsh businesses are more likely to assess flexible working on request and a case-by-case basis, and may have fewer options for varied working due to staff capacity. Comparatively, large Welsh businesses are more likely to have a formal MWP policy, with greater options available due to greater technological resources to facilitate alternative working.
A reluctance from small and medium sized Welsh businesses could stem from uncertainty on the real benefits, logistics and challenges that could result from implementing Modern Working Practices.
Chwarae Teg’s research highlights a number of key business benefits of adopting MWP, not only to the business but also employees and the wider economy. Some of these benefits include: increased productivity, staff satisfaction, better recruitment and retention and reduced overheads and absenteeism.
By creating a more agile and flexible work environment, businesses can embrace the numerous benefits of more engaged staff and employees can experience a better work-life balance
Although Modern Working Practices demonstrate how technology is enabling businesses to become more progressive, there are still challenges being faced. Chwarae Teg identified some of the key challenges to MWP as resistant attitudes, risk of overworking, difficulty in communication, loss of team atmosphere and struggling to meet client expectations.
Below are some of the ways digital technology can support your business in implementing Modern Working Practices and overcoming challenges before they arise.
Internal and External Communication
Providing dedicated tools and platforms for particular methods of communication (such as internal meetings, general day-to-day discussions or client conferences), staff will understand there are clear and direct lines to ensure they can always be in touch with colleagues, clients, customers and partners, wherever they may be working.
Tools like Skype or WebEx provide online meeting solutions with audio, video and web conferencing and presentation capabilities which work over the internet and can connect from 2 up to 250 people at one time via various devices. These tools offer content sharing so internal and external teams can work together in real time with co-authoring, desktop sharing, presentations, webinars and more.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) products such as Gradwell, sipgate or Soho666 could be good options for both keeping staff in direct contact but reducing your telecommunications costs by using internet data to connect phone calls. This article highlights some great reasons why a switch to VoIP could be great for your business.
Management of staff workloads, activity and deadlines
Project management tools such as Basecamp and Trello offer simple ways to share, manage and collaborate on individual workloads and team projects. These tools provide dedicated platforms for colleagues to access project work in real-time to ensure all staff, wherever they may be located, are working from the same page. Simultaneously, these tools offer a way for managers to ensure staff are meeting expectations and deadlines to ensure potential challenges with reduced productivity are monitored and addressed effectively.
Keep the team atmosphere
Aside from holding regular face-to-face or virtual meetings, there are other simple steps your business can take to ensure staff feel like part of the wider business. A weekly or fortnightly internal email update can ensure remote employees feel involved with the progress, success and future plans of the business and are aware of any news, updates or dates for their diary. Tools like MailChimp, Litmus and Active Trail could help you create, test, send and analyse the success of your emails. Email marketing can connect you with customers, why not use it to connect with employees?
It’s important to recognise, however, that when you’re adopting digital technology to benefit from Modern Working Practices, it’s not just about having the digital tools but how you use them. Your first step to ensure overall success should be to create a formal MWP policy with clear guidance on expectations, requirements and how technology should be used to support flexible working.
There are countless software products and online platforms that could help you run your business, wherever staff may be based. Superfast Business Wales’ Software Directory can help you to make informed decisions about the software you want to adopt with information on 11 key business areas and the associated software that could support your business. Get the free Software Directory here.